Mansions of Rastafari - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mansions of Rastafari are branches of the Rastafari movement

Rastafari movement

The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...

. Mansions include the Bobo Shanti, the Niyabinghi, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and others. The term is taken from the Biblical

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

verse in John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions."

Bobo Shanti

Prince Emanuel Charles Edwards founded the Bobo Shanti order in Jamaica in 1958. The new Bobo Shanti leader is Trevor Stewart. The Bobo Shanti use Revelations 5 to justify Prince Emmanuel as the re-incarnate of the Christ. He is regarded as the reincarnate Black Christ in a priestly state. He was called "Prince Emmanuel Charles Edwards by most members of the Bobo Shanti, without Mother or Father, a Priest of Melchezidek, the Black Christ in the Flesh." He, along with Haile Selassie are seen as Gods. Marcus Garvey is regarded as a prophet, and the three are seen as a Holy Trinity

Trinity

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...

. The Bobo Shanti believe that there should be repatriation of all black people to Africa. In addition the Bobo Shanti order also believe that black people should be reimbursed monetarily for slavery.

The members of the Bobo Shanti "house" are sometimes called Bobo Dreads. Members of this order dress very differently from all the other orders. They wear long robes and very tightly wrapped turbans. They also live separate from society and the other Rastafarian orders in their current base in the Nine Miles area of Bull Bay, Jamaica. They function similarly to the Accompong

Accompong

Accompong is a historical maroon village, located in the hills of St. Elizabeth Parish in Jamaica, consolidated by a treaty in 1739. It is located in one of the two areas where runaway slaves settled, originally with the Taínos, isolated enough to be safe first from the Spanish and then later from...

Maroons, even though it is not official, like an independent nation within Jamaica with their own constitution. They do not accept the values and lifestyle of the general Jamaican society. Their lifestyle closely emulates those of the Old Testament Jewish Mosaic Law, which includes the observation of the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, hygiene laws for menstruating women and special greetings amongst themselves. No work is allowed during the Sabbath and the consumption of salt and oil is avoided.

The Bobo Shanti are a self-sufficient group that make and sell straw hats and brooms to support the community and grow their own produce. The members of this order do not smoke marijuana in public as it is only reserved for worship among members.
Bobos greet each other using the formal address "My Lord" and are most notable for their wearing of turban

Turban

In English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...

s and long flowing robes as well as brooms they carry with them, which signify cleanliness. The brooms and other crafts are also sold in Kingston

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

as a way to provide funds for the community. The Bobos have established a strong relationship with the local community outside of Bobo Hill and often invite people to their services. Membership of the Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress is increasingly growing globally, as their members are seen in Africa, Europe, North and South America and throughout the Caribbean.

King Emmanuel is called "Dada" by his followers, who see him as part of a holy Trinity

Trinity

, together with Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey

Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...

and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, in which Selassie is seen as King/God (Jah

Jah

Jah is the shortened form of the divine name YHWH , an anglicized version of the Tetragrammaton . The name is most commonly associated with the Rastafari movement or within the word hallelujah, although Christian groups may use the name to varying degrees. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses use a...

), Garvey as prophet, and Emmanuel as high priest after the priesthood order of Melchizedek. Almost all sacred songs and tributes to their ancient trinity of prophet, priest, and king ends with the phrase "Holy Emmanuel I Selassie I Jah Rastafari."

Bobos say that "Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

" is the name that the European colonizers gave to Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, or "Jerusalem". Many see black supremacy

Black supremacy

The term black supremacy is a blanket term for various ideologies which hold that black people are superior to people of other races.-Overview:...

ideas as essential to the faith, and in the Bobo (and Rastafarian) conception, the true Ethiopian Israelites are black men and women, who are Royal Ethiopians from creation birth, scattered during the African diaspora.

Not only do Bobos believe that black skin, skin blessed by the sun, is original they also consider black women as mothers of creation. Women cover their legs, arms, and head in practice of the Queen Omega principles. Nearly all the men within the community are seen as prophet

Prophet

In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

s or priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

s, whose functions are to “reason” and conduct religious and parliamentary services, respectively.

Also the Black Supremacy concept is symbolic. Black represents "good" and white represents "evil", but it is not about the colour of the skin. The Bobo priests say, "It´s better a white skin man with a black heart than a black skin man with a white heart"

List of notable Bobo Shanti people

The Abyssinians
The Abyssinians
The Abyssinians are a Jamaican roots reggae group, famous for their close harmonies and promotion of the Rastafari movement in their lyrics.-History:...
Anthony B
Anthony B
Anthony B is the stage name of Keith Blair , a Jamaican musician and member of the Rastafari movement....
Capleton
Capleton
Capleton is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. He is also referred to as King Shango, King David, The Fireman and The Prophet. His record label is called David House Productions...
Sizzla Kalonji
Fantan Mojah
Fantan Mojah
Fantan Mojah , is a Jamaican reggae singer.-Biography:Owen Moncrieffe aka Fantan Mojah was born in St Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica. To gain experience, he took a job working with a traveling soundsystem, and performed songs during soundchecks. He adopted the name Mad Killer, in an homage to one of his...
Jah Mason
Jah Mason
Andre Johnson , better known by his stage name Jah Mason, also known as Iron Mason and Fire Mason, is a reggae singer/deejay from Jamaica, active as a recording artist since 1991.-Biography:...
Junior Kelly
Junior Kelly
Junior Kelly is a reggae singer known for his commitment to the faith of the Rastafari movement and its Bobo Shanti mansion...
Lutan Fyah
Lutan Fyah
Lutan Fyah is a Jamaican musician, singer, reggae and member of the Rastafari movement Bobo Shanti.-Background:...
Ras Attitude
Ras Shiloh
Ras Shiloh
Ras Shiloh, born Thomas Williams on June 3, 1974 in Brooklyn, United States, is a reggae artist who made From Rasta to you in 2002 and Only King Selassie I in 2007 concerning Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia the God reincarnate or the king by holy appointment of the Rastafari movement...
Pressure
Pressure
Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
Tarrus Riley
Tarrus Riley
Tarrus Riley is a Jamaican-American reggae singer, the son of Jimmy Riley.-Biography:...

Twelve Tribes of Israel

The Twelve Tribes of Israel is a Rastafarian group founded in Kingston

Kingston, Jamaica

, Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, and now functioning worldwide. Its founder, Vernon Carrington

Vernon Carrington

Vernon Carrington founded the Twelve Tribes of Israel branch of the Rastafari movement in 1968. He was also called the Prophet Gad. Members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel view Carrington as a prophet who began the repatriation of Rastafari to Africa, the homeland...

was known as Prophet Gad, and taught his students to read the Bible 'A Chapter A Day'.

Twelve Tribes of Israel (Ysrayl) Rastafarian organization accept Yahshuwah The Messiyah/Yesus Kristos as Master and Saviour, and H.I.M. Haile Selassie I as divinely chosen by the Creator

Creator deity

A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...

to represent him on earth. Due to the stigma associated with slavery and the false/pagan use of the name "Jesus" by enslavers/colonialist not practicing what they preached, it is preferred to use the ancient names of The Messiah

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

(Ha Mashiyahch) which is Yahshuwah, Yahoshua or Yahshua

Yahshua

Yahshua is an argued transliteration of the original Hebrew or Aramaic name of Jesus commonly used by individuals in the Sacred Name Movement....

(original sacred Hebrew name) and/or Yesus/I-Yesus Kristos (Amharic/Ge'ez name).

H.I.M. is seen as a divinely anointed king in the lineage of King David and King Solomon. While he is considered a type/representation of The Messiyah in Kingly Character, he is not Yahshuwah The Messiyah/Yesus Kristos himself, but a representative of the everlasting Davidic covenant

Covenant (biblical)

A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...

, which is to be fulfilled by The MessiahYahshuah

Yahshuah

Yahshuah is a form of the Hebrew name of Jesus produced by mystical speculation at various periods of history, but which is rejected by mainstream linguistics and textual scholarship in the field of ancient languages. The essential idea is of an alphabetic consonantal framework Y-H-Sh-W-H, which...

/ I-Yesus Kristos when he returns as The Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Yahudah).

The Twelve Tribes symbology is based on Yahqob's (Jacob

Jacob

Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...

) 12 sons, and correspond to the months of the ancient Ysraylite (Israelite

Israelite

According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...

) calendar, beginning with April and Reuben

Reuben (Bible)

According to the Book of Genesis, Reuben or Re'uven was the first and eldest son of Jacob with Leah. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Reuben.-Etymology:...

. The Most High Jah

Jah

/Yah/YHWH gave Yahqob a new name which was Ysrayl (Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

). Some people further relate the 12 Tribes to metaphysical

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

signs. Thus Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

came from the Tribe of Yowseph (Joseph

Joseph (Hebrew Bible)

Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....

), the eleventh of the biblical Ysrayl's (Israel's) twelve children (because he was born in February). The name Levi

Levi

Levi/Levy was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi ; however Peake's commentary suggests this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...

in Ijahman Levi

Ijahman Levi

Ijahman Levi on June 21, 1946 is a reggae musician. His first album, Haile I Hymn, was released on Island Records in 1978. He became Ijahman Levi after a religious conversion to the Rastafari movement when he was in prison between 1972 and 1974...

represents the third child who was born to Yahqob (Jacob

Jacob

). Another well known reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

group of this organization is Israel Vibration

Israel Vibration

Israel Vibration is a reggae harmony trio, originating from Kingston, Jamaica. Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin, Albert "Apple Gabriel" Craig, and Cecil "Skelly" Spence all overcame childhood polio, and went on to be one of the most successful roots groups to form in Jamaica in the late 1970s...

.

Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

, by quoting a biblical

Bible

passage about Yowseph (Joseph) on the album cover of Rastaman Vibration, was acknowledging his own support for this sect. Dennis Brown

Dennis Brown

Dennis Emmanuel Brown was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a sub-genre of reggae...

, Freddie McGregor

Freddie McGregor

Freddie McGregor has been variously a singer, musician and producer. According to Allmusic he is one of reggae's most durable and soulful singers, with a steady career that started in the 1960s, when he was just seven years old.-Biography:In 1963 he joined with Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin to...

, Mikey Dread

Mikey Dread

Michael George Campbell , better known as Mikey Dread, was a Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music...

and many other roots reggae

Roots reggae

Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...

artists were associated with The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Ysrayl).

Niyabinghi

The Nyahbinghi Order (also known as Haile Selassie I Theocratical Order of the Nyahbinghi Reign) is the oldest of all the Rastafari mansions The term Niyabinghi means "black victory" (niya = black, binghi = victory). It may also be spelled in a variety of other ways, such as "Nyabinghi", "Nyahbinghi", "Niyahbinghi" and so on. It was first used to describe an East African possession cult located in the areas of south Uganda and north Rwanda in 1700 AD (Hopkins 259). Early missionaries and anthropologists named the Uganda/Rwanda clans, the Niyabinghi Cult, because their culture was based on the veneration of the goddess spirit, Niyabinghi . The Niyabinghi Cult is said to have thrived due to the possession of the goddess Niyabinghi through dance and religious seances.

Various oral traditions exist that explain how Niyabinghi became a revered goddess. One account states that in 1700 AD two tribes inhabited the Uganda/Rwanda area: the Shambo and Bgeishekatwa. Queen Kitami, who is said to have possessed a sacred drum of phenomenal power, ruled the Bgeishekatwa tribe. When Kitami died she was given immortal status and the name Niyabinghi (Freedman 63). Another tradition states that Queen Niyabinghi ruled the Northwestern Tanzani kingdom of Karagwe and married the chief of Mpororo from the southwestern kingdom of Uganda. Envious of the Queen’s power, the ruler ordered her death which is said to have brought “untold horrors to his kingdom” (Kiyaga-Mulindwa 1163). After her death, her spirit continued to be praised and to possess her followers for the next two centuries.

The Bgeishekatwa tribe was eventually defeated by the Shambo clan who adopted the Bgeishekatwa’s rituals for Niyabinghi . A century later the Shambo were defeated by the cultivating Kiga clan (there are legends that the Shambo’s defeat is connected to the attempt to kill a woman who was possessed by Niyabinghi ) (Freedman 74). Once the Kiga tribe reigned over the land, Niyabinghi became known as a matriarchal power, and the Kiga’s century-rule is characterized as the reign of the Niyabinghi priestesses.

Kiga women who received Niyabinghi’s blessings and were said to be possessed by Niyabinghi came to be called bagirwas (Hopkins 259). Eventually the revered bagirwas gained political dominion and became governors of the Kiga people living a dual life of political and spiritual leadership. The bagirwas, including Muhumusa, remained governors of the Kiga people until 1930 after losing their land to British, German, and Belgian imperialists, which they fought for a period of twenty years. At some point, men became Niyabinghi priests as well (Freedman 80-81).

The Niyabinghi Theocracy Government was named for a legendary Amazon

Amazons

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

queen of the same name, who was said to have possessed

Spiritual possession

Spirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour...

a Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

n woman named Muhumusa

Muhumusa

Muhumusa, was a feared leader of the east African Nyabingi cult which was influential in Rwanda and Uganda from 1850 to 1950. She organized armed resistance against German colonialists and was eventually detained by the British in Kampala, Uganda, from 1913 to her death in 1945. Muhumusa was said...

in the 19th century. Muhumusa inspired a movement, rebelling against African colonial authorities. Though she was captured in 1913, alleged possessions by "Niyabinghi" continued, mostly afflicting women.

However, Niyabinghi doesn't have any linkage to or relationship with Ethiopian history or Haile Selassie, it is a part of the Rastafari movement and a manifestation of the wisdom of Jah. Niyabinghi are considered the strictest mansion of the Rastafari movement

Rastafari movement

in Jamaica

Jamaica

, preaching the ideals of a global theocracy to be headed by Emperor Haile Selassie I, whom they proclaim to be the promised Messiah

Messiah

A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...

and incarnation of Jah, the Supreme.

Niyabinghi music

The Niyabinghi resistance inspired a number of Jamaica

Jamaica

n Rastafarians

Rastafari movement

, who incorporated what are known as niyabinghi chants
Niyabinghi chants
Niyabinghi chanting typically includes recitation of the Psalms, but may also include variations of well-known Christian hymns and adopted by Rastafarians...

(also binghi) into their celebrations ("groundations"). The rhythm

Rhythm

Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...

s of these chants were eventually an influence of popular ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

, rocksteady

Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...

and reggae

Reggae

music. Three kinds of drums (called "harps") are used in niyabinghi: bass, also known as the "Pope Smasher" or "Vatican Basher", reflecting a Rasta association between Catholicism and Babylon

Babylon

Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

, the middle-pitched funde and akete. The akete (also known as the "repeater") plays an improvised

Improvisation

Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...

syncopation

Syncopation

In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...

, the funde plays a regular one-two beat and the bass drum strikes loudly on the first beat, and softly on the third beat (of four). When groups of players get together, only one akete player may play at any one time. The other drums keep regular rhythms while the akete players solo in the form of a conversation. Count Ossie

Count Ossie

Count Ossie, born Oswald Williams was a Jamaican drummer and band leader.-Biography:As a young boy Ossie grew up in a rasta community where he learned techniques of vocal chanting and hand drumming under the tutelage of Brother Job...

was the first to record niyabinghi, and he helped to establish and maintain Rastafari culture.

Niyabinghi drumming is not exclusive to the Niyabinghi order, and is common to all Rastafarians. Its rhythms are the basis of Reggae music, through the influential ska band, the Skatalites. It is said that their drummer revolutionized Jamaican music by combining the various Niyabinghi parts into a 'complete' "drum kit," which combined with jazz to create an entirely new form of music, known as ska. Niyabinghi rhythms were largely a creation of Count Ossie, who incorporated influences from traditional Jamaican Kumina drumming (especially the form of the drums themselves) with songs and rhythms learned from the recordings of Nigerian musician Babatunde Olatunji

Babatunde Olatunji

Babatunde Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist and recording artist.- Biography :Olatunji was born in the village of Ajido, a small town near Badagry, Lagos State, in southwestern Nigeria. A member of the Yoruba people, Olatunji was introduced to traditional African music at...

.

Binghi chanting typically includes recitation of the Psalms, but may also include variations of well-known Christian hymns. Though Count Ossie is clearly the most influential Binghi drummer, practically the thing inventing the genre of something in its present state, the recordings of Ras Michael

Ras Michael

Ras Michael is a Jamaican reggae singer and Nyabinghi specialist. He also performs under the name of Dadawah.-Biography:...

and the Sons of Negus, as well as the Rastafari Elders, have contributed to the popularity of the music.

Though Niyabinghi music operates as a form of Rasta religious music outside of Reggae, musicians such as Bob Marley and even non-Rastas such Prince Buster (Muslim) and Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...

used the idiom in some songs. Recently, dancehall sensation Sizzla

Sizzla

Sizzla Kalonji, or simply Sizzla in are de reggae musician. He is one of the most commercially and critically successful contemporary reggae artists and is well-known for his above-average prolificacy...

, American roots-Reggae artists such as Groundation

Groundation

Groundation is an American roots reggae band with jazz and dub influences from Sonoma County in Northern California.-History:Formed in the fall of 1998 by Harrison Stafford, Marcus Urani, and Ryan Newman, Groundation began on the campus of Sonoma State University's Jazz Program...

and Jah Levi, and Hip hop have used Niyabinghi drums extensively in their recordings. Though sometimes claimed to be a direct continuation of an African cultural form, Niyabinghi drumming is best seen as the voice of a people rediscovering their African roots.

Combining Jamaican traditions with newly acquired African ones, Count Ossie and others synthesized his country's African traditions and reinvigorated them with the influences of Nigerian master-drummer Babatunde Olatunji

Babatunde Olatunji

, as a comparison of Count Ossie's Tales of Mozambique and Olatunji's earlier Drums of Passion will reveal. Indeed, it is that combination of inherited traditions and conscious rediscovery of lost African traditions that makes Niyabinghi drumming—and Rasta

Rastafari movement

—so powerful.

Remi

The Remi branch is the latest of the branches, originating in Angola in the early 2000s. This movement has become very popular in the recent months amongst the urban population of Luanda.

Covenant Rastafari

• Covenant Rastafari believe that Haile Selassie 1st is the Glory of the Heavenly Father and Son of God. They worship the Father and Son in spirit and truth, believing that His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st is the Anointed One, the chosen and Anointed life mirrored personification of themselves (father & son) as they were before creation, and as they are in heaven "God in all their Glory - Love in all their Glory" the King of Kings & Lord of Lords. 1 Timothy 6:13-16

• Covenant Rastafari believe that God the Son appeared in the Glory of the Father on the throne of David, the throne of Glory in the grace of the Holy Spirit in the mortal man and Ethiopian King, Tafari Makonnen. Matt 25:31 | Luke 1:32 They believe that Tafari Makonnen committed Himself in covenant with God the Father and Son by taking His baptism name of Haile Selassie "power of the holy trinity" to reign, and in so doing the reign and Lord of all power was proclaimed; revealed, glorified and personified through him in the New Name of Haile Selassie 1st.

• To Covenant Rastafari the New Name Haile Selassie 1st "power of the holy trinity" means "The Almighty" and the revelation of Haile Selassie 1st is God reigning in mortal man "in all power and glory" as "The Almighty” the King of Kings & Lord of Lords.

• Covenant Rastafari believe that the appearing upon the Ethiopian throne of Haile Selassie 1st King of Kings & Lord of Lords, Root of David on November 2nd 1930 AD, marks a new time and era "the era and heritage of full salvation". They site Hebrews 9:28 and the appearing of Christ, who ushers in full salvation.
Matt 25:31 | Luke 1:31-33 | Heb 9:28 | Acts 3:19-21

• Covenant Rastafari state that full salvation has come and like eternal life it is not something of the future, but can be received by faith. John 3:16 | John 17:3 | Hebrews 9:28 Those of this faith enter into the life of full salvation in Haile Selassie 1st Name. They describe full salvation as a divine covenant heritage that allows a one to appropriate (take possession of) the whole Word of God and its blessings from Genesis to Revelation. In a sense they have decided to live the Biblical future now, coming into covenant with the revelation and glory of the Word of God; believing that in the name and revelation of Haile Selassie 1st, they receive all the blessings and glory of eternity in spirit and truth, i.e. full salvation now, while knowing that the completion of all things has yet to come. In so doing they live this eternal "New Jerusalem" life and covenant heritage as reflected in the Tabot Calendar
Revelation 3:12 | Revelation 22:1-2

• The Tabot Calendar declares the AD era has passed away and the new era has begun, the age of H.I.M. The new era declares in the grace of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has prevailed in the new name and person of Haile Selassie 1st, the Power of the Holy Trinity, King of Kings & Lord of Lords, the Second coming of the Seed of David in Power, the Glory of the Father.

Covenant Rastafari also believe that:

+ The Holy Bible is the authority of God's Word, and is completely true, in every recorded statement, every prophecy and their fulfilment and in every recorded act and its outcome from Genesis to Revelation.
2 Tim 3:12-17 | 2 Peter 1:20-21 | John 10:34-36 | Psalm 119:160

+ Faith in the promises and principles of the Bible, together with the grace of God, form His covenant. It is this covenant that Covenant Rastafari have entered into.
Heb 11:6 | Matt 26:26-29 | John 6:47-58 | John 3:16

+ Jesus Christ is God the Son, God the Word who became flesh, born of the virgin Mary, who was sent to earth to redeem Mankind back to God the Father, who was crucified, died, and was resurrected on the third day and ascended to heaven, who is now glorified with God the Father.
John 1:1-3 | John 1:14 John 3:16 | Rev 1:5-6 | Rev 5:9 | Luke 24:46 | Revelation 5:11-13

+ Haile Selassie 1st is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, who returned, in the Glory of the Heavenly Father, to reign in mortal man in the grace of the Holy Spirit as the “Almighty”, bringing full salvation to Mankind and to judge the Nations.
Matt 16:27 | Heb 9:28 | Rev 19:11-16

Others

Other mansions of Rastafari include: Iyesus/Jesus Dreads, Messianic Dreads, Remi Rastafari, and the Selassian Church. There is also a small sect of Jews, called "Zion Rastafari" who still hold on to Jewish tradition, but also accept Selassie I as a descendant of King David, and a divine spirit.

There are also 'Muslim Rastas' with a distinction between Rasta and Rastafari. 'Muslim Rastas' refers to those who practice a way of life and the following of philosophical teachings, while maintaining their monotheistic faith without any belief in H.I.M. Haile Selassie.

External links

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Bobo Shanti

List of notable Bobo Shanti people

Twelve Tribes of Israel

Niyabinghi

Niyabinghi music

Remi

Covenant Rastafari

Others

Further reading

External links